In the performance VB53,21 women stand on a pile of dirt in the Tepidarium by Roster,a glass house forming part of the Giardino del Orticultura in Florence.Planted like lilies or potatoes,for several hours they face the auidience like contemporay Mary Magdelenes,standing then lying.

The Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery was established on Apri19th．1999．The challenge that Pitti I mmagine accepted was to create a place and produce events in Florence that could host the most interesting expressions of the contemporary．It was the beginning of a unique，experimental experience．

Discovery is not a gallery or a museum or a collection．It is a program It is a laboratoryfor testing a company’s ability to impact a city and it's cultural life in a clear and specific man—net．The Fondazione Pitti Immagine Discovery has a duaI mission．

The first is to reflect on contemporary Ianguages and aesthetics with specific emphasison the relationships between fashion，art，photography，cinema，architecture and communi—cation．as weII as the short—circults that cause them to Interact

The second is to serve as a seismograph and catalyst for the ideas and trends that giveshape and identity to contemporary thought．

And this is the context into which VB513一the performance by Vanessa BeecroE held atthe Tepidarium of the Giardino dell'Orticoltura．in Florence，on June 2004-fits．This catalo—gue tells and shows the story of that event．